It’s Monday again, my blogging day. I’m getting close to making some major changes in my blogging ritual, but for now I’m determined to keep to my first day of the week schedule. I’ve been chasing my own tail for several months with illness in our family and two books due to come out in May, so I’ve made a few mistakes.
If I sent you something you didn’t ask for, or didn’t send you something that you did ask for, give me holler. I’m making lists of what I have to do to clean up any messes I’ve made lately. I’m sure there’s a paper and pencil here somewhere. I’ve nearly given up on this “trusty” Apple I used to love. That’s another reason I’m not running on all cylinders. Sometimes this beast likes me and sometimes it doesn’t. Today it brought me spam as a present, like my cat used to bring me mice. Thank you so much.
But on to the business of the morning. This month I’m featuring some of the authors who wanted to join me here and who were selected to be in
Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime.
Amazon . B&N. Kobo . Smashwords .
Coming May 1.
We could use help in spreading the word about the launch, so if you haven’t already signed on and can give us a blog post, some tweets, Instagram boosts or Facebook shout outs, leave that in the comment, and I’ll get back to you.
Today my guest is Rebecca Douglass with her story, The Tide Waits.
First, let me tell you that I liked this story because it addressed two themes I always enjoy in stories–the sensible villager versus the new-comer elite never fails to entertain me. And I love the theme of justice. I could read these kinds of stories all the time. The first lets me identify with the underdog characters and measure myself and my struggles against theirs. The second gives me what I so yearn for in this world, that rare and beautiful moment of balanced scales.
Rebecca M. Douglass is a writer of children’s fiction, cozy mysteries, and fantasy. When not writing, she likes to spend her time hiking, biking, and traveling with her husband. She works at the local library, where she hopes to learn the secrets of the Ninja Librarian.
Soda Bay Rd. along south shore of Clear Lake. (Rebecca)
In addition to this story in the anthology, she has a new book coming out on March 28
Death By Adverb
Here are some stories with justice as a theme. I’ll do another matching quiz this week. Give it a try. Just for fun.
| A. Absalom, Absalom! | E. Harper Lee |
| B. To Kill A Mockingbird | F. Ursula K. LeGuin |
| C. The Crucible | G. William Faulkner |
| D. The Dispossessed | H. Henry Miller |
Want the answers to last week’s quiz on stories about time travel? Here you go!
1. The classic tale, The Time Machine, was written in 1930.
FALSE: Jules Verne wrote this before 1895, the year it was published.
2. A Wrinkle in Time caused a bidding war among publishers when L’Engle submitted it.
FALSE: This book was turned down more than two dozen times. 1) It had a female protagonist and that wasn’t done in the ’60s in sci-fi. 2) Nobody could figure out what market it belonged in. It wasn’t up to the standards set for children’s literature.
3. It was Scott Turow’s endorsement of The Time Traveler’s Wife on The Today Show that kickstarted that book’s climb up the charts.
TRUE: Niffenegger wasn’t getting good press as a first-time author. Reviewers criticized her writing style, calling it melodramatic. Then Turow praised in on national television. Now that book has sold well over 2 million copies.
Quote of the Week: “Corn can’t expect justice from a court composed of chickens.” – African proverb
Boy- you are busy! I think Jess and I can help share about the anthology on our Author Tracker blog for adult and YA books. You can send me an email with the info when you are ready and have things organized (or you can pass on my email to whoever is in charge).
Thanks for introducing us to Rebecca and her story. 🙂
I’m either busy or insane. It depends on the day. 🙂 Thanks for the offer of more help.
Two books in May? Whoa, awesome! So sorry to hear about the illness in the family, though. Something like that would overwhelm anybody!
It may be more like way too much to manage, but thanks for the thoughts.
Sounds like you have your hands full, Lee! Wishing you the best for staying on top of it.
I’ll keep trying for the top. Some days I feel like I’ve been thrown under the wheels of a semi.
Wow! That tidbit about the Time Traveler’s Wife surprised me. Interesting.
All we need to be noticed is a mention by a notable on a big network!
I’m a huge fan of the Ninja Librarian! Thanks for featuring her.
That’s interesting about Scott Turow as well. Just goes to show how powerful endorsements from well-known authors are.
Very true.
I’m looking forward to reading the anthology!
Congrats to all and today especially, Rebecca Douglas!
Death by Adverb is an excellent title and I like stories of regular people and “elite” newcomers, too.
C. Lee – prayers for healing and for strength in all things.
Oh, wait, I wanted to try the matching quiz.
Absolom, Absolom! – William Faulkner
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (just reread it)
The Crucible – Henry Miller
The Dispossessed – Ursala K. LeGuin
I’m looking forward to Tick Tock more and more as the weeks go by. Thank you for featuring little teasers to whet our appetites.
Family illness is not fun. The whole flow of life is disrupted with no rhyme or reason. Big hugs to you and your hubby as you trudge down this road. Here’s hoping for normal VERY soon!
I’m glad you’re reading and enjoying the teasers. I’m excited by the approaching launch.
And getting back to normal would be very welcome. This has been one long haul. I’ve never met so many health care people. I might have to write about them in the future. They are special.
That’s a really interesting proverb! And stories like that are so interesting: villagers and elites are always so amusing, and you just gotta love stories where justice is done.
I’m trying to get Verbosity up and running again, so I might be able to give you a guest post or a shout-out! Around when would you want to do it?
Alexa
thessalexa.blogspot.com
verbosityreviews.com
A guest post would be fabulous. Any time in April is good as long as I have a little lead time. Thanks, Alexa. Love your blog, so it will be great to make an appearance there.
April’s pretty open for me, so pick a Saturday and it’s yours. Email the verbosity one when you decide. 🙂
Thanks so much! 😀 We’d be glad to have you. 🙂
Alexa
thessalexa.blogspot.com
verbosityreviews.com
That proverb is fun and so true!
I really enjoyed the story as well – I’m another rooter for the underdog! 🙂
Those are the best stories. Thanks, Jemi.
Spam sure isn’t a gift one wants to wake up to, or a dead mouse. Goes to show one has to keep on keeping on even when denied dozens of times. Hopefully things align at your sea.
Alignment of any sort would be most welcome. Thanks, Pat.
Congrats to Rebecca! Awesome that she has 2 books coming out this spring.
Always exciting with one book. Doubly so with two.
Two books coming out—high five.
Hope everyone in the family is healthy soon. Sickness is difficult on all parties concerned.
High fives welcome! Thanks for the good wishes.
You’re really making me look forward to this anthology more and more, Lee. The stories are fascinating. I hope your family will all soon be healthy again, so everyone can relax. Adorable cat. My Patches enjoys catching mice and she always brings them to show me, so proud of herself. Have a great week.
Thanks Beverly,
Cats are the original Show and Tell animals, aren’t they?
You continue to fuel my anticipation of this release. Thank you.
And the quiz:
A:G.
B-E
C-H
D-F
You Reader, You!!!
This reader is sooooo grateful to the writers. All of the writers.
Love the title Death by Adverb. Sounds like a great story. (The whole anthology sounds great.
I think people are going to enjoy the stories.
I think it’s nice that you’ve been featuring all the contributors to this anthology. It should be a good one!
Just got to do three, but they are representative.
Hi, Cheryl-Lee!
I hope you soon catch your tail. 🙂
Cheer up, dear friend. There have been times in my blogging career when I actually looked forward to the comments of spammers because they were the only friends I had. 🙂
Seriously, I am sorry to learn that you have been coping with illness in your family. I hope those affected are on the road to recovery.
I see that guest author Rebecca lives, or at least has gone biking, in a very scenic area of California north of Frisco. Her story The Tide Waits coming out in May in Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime, would certainly be the kind that interests me. I love to root for the underdog and am keenly interested in balancing the scales of justice, an outcome that continues to elude us.
Enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend C-Lee!
Hi Shady and many thanks for your–as usual–considered comment. We’re on a long road back to health at the moment, so I’m hoping to have some good news soon.
As to Rebecca’s story, I think you’ll like the bartender. She’s a great character and she has all the beer. 🙂
Hi Lee – looks like a good anthology … I await it. Please don’t talk to me about mice – I’ve had more than my fair share since I arrived here! Good luck with life … I hope it eases – cheers Hilary
Thanks, Hilary. It has to get better. I’m determined it will. Since I’m out of cats, I have those little devils everywhere, too. I might have to break down and get me a feline or two.
I hope everything gets straightened out! I’ll tweet stuff. 🙂
Thanks, HR. I’ll shoot you some prepared tweets.
Looking forward to reading Rebecca’s story 🙂 Love that African proverb.
Simple words. Simple idea. Impact.
Lee – also if you guys need help with release promo, I can do something on my blog on a Saturday during May (April is tied up with Blogging from A to Z). I’ve also been sharing Tweets about the release as well. Can’t wait to read it!
That would be great. I’ll get in touch. Thanks so much for the offer of help.
Congratulations to Rebecca!
Adorable picture! I would prefer a (computer) mouse over spam myself. Excellent description of the theme of the story.
I couldn’t bear to post an image of what my real cat used to drag in. 🙁
😂
I’d be okay with my cat bringing that kind of mouse.
I really liked the characters in Rebecca’s story. They were very no-nonsense.
They were. I really liked the barmaid. She was a take-charge kind of gal.